Platform as a service

I’m probably the last person in the world you’d ever expect to write a post titled “A Vision of Failure” but, perhaps that’s more due to my inability these days to provide anyone with a sense of hopefulness regarding where cloud computing and the like are headed. Visions, much like prophecies, exist to denote the “what ifs” not necessarily the “what will be” standards approaching on the horizon. A lot is based on conjecture, upon the gross emotions that dictate where we feel the market should be; truthfully, this is the base platform upon which analysts spend their days calling out some meaningless drivel that hopes to represent the market at large. At the end of this cattle call, however, lies the very real possibility that “we got it all wrong.” I’m not one to claim that cataclysmic events will occur based on this, but reality checks are needed. So, what’s this Vision of Failure?

In the mental health world, a lot of talk is made about various pathologies, their presentations, as well as tying them to certain personality types that pre-dispose them to affliction. That’s a mouthful to process through, but the same type of examination can be applied to those who engage in “cloud oriented behaviour.” Here is my DSM of cloud personality types.

Update on 4/13/11: So, @djenningspr and I have been going back and forth re: the concept of “Cloud Darwinism.” While not truly a personality type, there IS the idea that it would nest quite well amongst this list…here we go, then…

The “Cloud Darwinist” – (cloud darwinism; cloud darwinist) – This is the person who, for all intents and purposes, is devoted to the “survival of the fittest” or, perhaps more succinctly, he “calls it like he sees it.” Through careful examination of analyst reports, public P&L sheets for CSSPs, etc. he attempts to determine if micro-evolution of CSSPs can possibly occur or whether macro evolution of provider SLAs, infrastructure, etc. can truly allow a CSSP to survive in this “cloudy” day & age. (attrib to @davegraham & @djenningspr)

The “Cloud Idiot” – (cloudiot) – This is the person who thinks they know more about the cloud than anyone else. They’re constantly on the prowl for the “what is …?” questions on social media platforms and provide blustery responses with vapid data validation. Oftentimes, these folks are proven wrong in a rather humiliating and public fashion.

The “Cloud Chaser” – (cloudparazzi) – This is the person who is “All cloud, all the time” and is looking for the next “big thing” in the the cloud “atmosphere.” Usually found trolling for data at Geva Perry‘s blog or accosting CTOs, VPs, etc. on social media.

The “Cloud Antagonist” – (cloudagonist) – This is the commiserate cloud “hater.” This person loves DAS storage, SANs, divided fabrics and can be found extoling the virtues of direct server management via commandline and a collection of USB sticks.

The “Cloud Masochist” – (cloudochist) – This person, as opposed to the cloudagonist, is ALL in the cloud. Using S3, GoGrid, SnapLogic, et al. as his storage and processing via EC2, the cloudochist is “putting the hurt on” those naysayers who think the cloud is bad for business. Incidentally, the cloudochist gets unpaid vacation when the backend services go down.

The “Cloud Evangelist” – (cloudgelist) – This person extols the virtues of the cloud and it’s capabilities without ever having used any of the services. Ignorance, while blissful, doesn’t pay the bills. However, certain cloudgelists have noted that they use the product (whether it’s their own, who knows?) and it does indeed lessen wrinkles and promotes good colon health…wait, that’s something else entirely! UPDATE: @CXI mentioned that the cloudgelist can use the cloud and still extol its virtues. Far be it from me to exclude anyone. definition revised/extended.

The “Cloud Manic” – (cloudpolar) – This person alternatively loves AND hates the cloud and all it stands for within a given week. Can usually be found smack talking a vendor about their primary storage platform in the cloud while loving on a PaaS vendor for “connecting the dots.” Rinse and repeat.

Yesterday, I held a rather impromptu “Cloud Talk” session with some of the Twitter community that has expressed an interested in cloud computing, cloud storage, etc. I’m happy to report that given the rather abrupt beginning of the session, I still was able to sit down and talk with seven individuals (sorry, Stu 😉 ) that had some interesting thoughts and ideas about what the cloud is and isn’t.

The common theme that was discussed (suprisingly) was about the role of what I’ve deemed “middleware;” that is, the specific “connectors” that tie an internal set of applications and their data, processing, security capabilities to one or more cloud services like GoGrid, Nirvanix, Mosso, and S3. This would also be know as “PaaS” (Platform as a Service) or “IaaS” (Infrastructure as a Service). Admittedly, everyone has their own spin on this and the overall taxonomy for the cloud is really still under development by all parties, but the general consensus was tied to this absolutely crucial connection piece.

One of the current “hot” topics within the IT industry these days is the concept of cloud computing. While there is a level of ambiguity around what cloud computing actually is, there is a definite trend towards looking at what these cloud services and storage can do for the commercial and enterprise.
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Earlier this morning, Scott Lowe posed the following question: What if hypervisors shared a file system? The concept here is that most hypervisors (notably VMware and [soon] Hyper-V) have a clustered file system that is used to extend the capabilities of a group of hypervisors into such things as dynamic resource sharing, failover/failback, HA, etc. […]